D I S C L A I M E R: : The Great Goddess of Twilight owns everything, Stephenie Meyer.
BPOV
I liked to think that the only reason that I had to convince Alice to go into David's Bridal is because I
didn't like all those French designer guys. They actually creeped me out. They used
words like 'dahling' and 'honey'. It bothered me. I shivered as we entered, imagining one of them
going up to Alice and crying out her name in brilliant surprise.
Alice, of course, would do all of the European kissing and what not, and I would only stand
there awkwardly, like the third wheel in a serious-relationship date. "Now, Bella...are there any
kind of...certain type of...styles of a dress that you want?" Alice smiled over at me, sliding dresses
without her own approval on the metal hangers.
"You're asking the wrong person, Alice." I pointed out. She only sighed dramatically and went up
to the front desk. There was a guy there, -Oh Lord-, with his hand resting on his palm,
a bored look on his face. "Hi, is there any new collections around? These styles aren't really
what I'm looking for." She grinned, dazzling him.
The employee came out of his trance, and sized Alice up. "Oh, yes, of course. We have some
newer collections we just got a month ago in the back. Are you the bride-to-be?" His voice
sounded masculine. That was a plus.
Alice laughed, throwing back her head. "No, I'm already married. It's for my friend, Bella. She
doesn't know a thing when it comes to weddings." She smiled, dragging me over to them. He
looked a little dissapointed at Alice's news, then smiled politely at me. "Well, congratulations."
He then moved through swinging doors into the back. "You don't like anything here?" I
demanded. "Alice, last time I checked, it's my wedding. You're choosing everything. Am I
allowed to choose something?!".
Her small-featured face was taken aback, then hurt, as it slowly was deflated of all the
excitement. "I understand, Bella. I'm sorry, I should have taken more respect for your feelings
about this. I haven't even asked Edward about his tux...or Jasper...or..Emmett...Carlisle..." Her
voice sounded like it was drifing, until she resurfaced.
The guy came back with two racks filled with more hangers of nothing but flimsy, white dresses
with excessive amounts of lace. "Wow." I gaped at them. They were a higher-standard
collection, I could tell. I found myself touching the first one on the rack.
It was white, obviously. It was sleeveless, but just high enough, so that I wasn't embarassed
by the crazy amount of cleavage. On the part where it tightned around your curves, was
a long, red bow that dragged on mid-dress. "Alice..." I tugged on her arm.
She too, gaped at it. "Nice choice, Bella!" She grinned, and pulled it off the rack. I saw the
price tag as it drifted past me, once she put it on the counter. 2209.00
Before I could protest, Alice already had sliced her credit card through the little machine, and I
was sent into the dressing room for custom fitting. As we waited for a tailor, I thought of the
nerve-wracking question I had been meaning to ask her about Edward.
"Er...A-Alice?" I stammered, looking over to her.
"Yes, Bella?" She smiled warmly back. It was like an Esme smile. Friendly, comforting.
"Can I ask you something about Edward?" I hesitated.
"Anytime. Geez, you're worse than Edward. He becomes all nervous and spazzy when he asks
something about you." She rolled her eyes playfully at us, then realized I was waiting for her
attention. "Oh. Right. Sorry, go on."
"Okay. Please don't say anything to him about this. Please don't think it, either. Sing It's A
Small World After All in German in your head, if you must.
It's just, the other night, Edward and I were laying together, like we always do. No, nothing
like that, Alice. He forbids that, ugh. Anyway, he started asking me a lot of questions
about the wedding. Almost like you. And he would repeat questions that he asked me so
long ago. Like my favorite color, my favorite flower, my favorite type of stone. The weird thing
was, he made a face everytime I would answer.
The face looked very...confused. As if I was lying to him, or something. It's bothered me ever
since, too. Do you know why?"
Alice seemed to be soaking all of this carefully, and took her time in her answer, as if repeating
every word slowly again her head. "I'm not sure why he's behaving like that. Our kind has a
very, very sharp memory, so he memorizes everything that you say. Not to mention every
movement, every twitch..." She lost her trail of thought, but was deep in thought.
At that second, two tailors came in for me. It was tightened around my chest, accenting it a
little more, but not to the extreme. As well as around my waist, and loosened around my hips.
They said it was so that 'The waist and chest could be observed, but the rest would portray
a white, laced, flowing river.'
Can I point out that that was the first time I'd ever heard that sentence in my entire life? We soon
exited the building with a veil, white heels, and a little crown. Five bags from one store. I
carried less home in my truck from the grocery store.
As we drove home in Alice's sleek, yellow Porsche, I tried to fill the silence again with my
nagging question of which my sister-to-be never really answered. "I think it's because he feels
like he's failing at the wedding." She pointed out, quicker than I could put my question through
my lips.
Okay, who was the mind reader, Edward or Alice? "You think?" I asked curiously. She nodded.
"I can see him stressing to the maximum last minute." She smiled over at me, as if sharing an
inside joke with herself.
Wheather it was a joke or not, I was horrified. Stressing to the maximum last minute? Did that
mean he was going to cancel the wedding? I know that I didn't really want it to begin with,
but why would he cancel it? Was there someone else? Tanya, perhaps?
In less time than should not have possible, we arrived back at the Cullen mansion. "Here we are.
Now, Bella, I'm going to keep these bags in my closet, so that Edward won't look into them by
mistake, thinking it was your lingerie or something." She giggled, and danced inside the house.
"We're here!" She sung, and raced upstairs, the bags flying with her. Emmett came out from
the living room, grinning broadly at me. "There's my little bride sister! Did Alice introduce to
one of her designer friends? What was his name...oh, er...Anthony!" He laughed, placing his
hands on his hips.
"Ehh...hello, Miss Cullen, what a pleasure to have you with us again. Size two still, yes? Oh,
and who this marvelous looking friend of yours? Miss Bella? Dahling, that is the most beautiful
name I've heard in my life of the fashion arts." He imitated a French accent, causing us to burst
into fits of laughter.
Again, another first for me today. Emmett acting like a man who acted like a woman.
Rosalie sauntered in casually behind him, shaking her head. "Emmett, please. Not the French
man imitation today." She pleaded teasingly, and smiled slightly over at me. "Did Alice annoy
you with the dress?"
I shrugged. "Not more than your usual dripping of a tap from the kitchen in the middle of the
night." I joked. They seemed a little confused at the joke, then laughed politely.
Scarlett took the place of my albino cheeks, as Alice now stood in front of me, holding a
black and white necklace-broch in front of me. It was shaped like in those olden-time picture
frames. Oval shaped. The 'frame' part was black, while the 'picture' part was white, with an
illustration of a dancing bride inside.
"What's this?" I asked.
"It doesn't matter." She said dismissivly, and latched it together on the back of my neck. It
looked quite pretty. I was starting to get the feeling that she wanted me to wear this, too. With
the crown, the veil, the heels, the dress, the hair-do, the makeup, and the ring.
Apparently, you were expected of a lot when you were a bride. I felt Rosalie's arms on my
shoulders as she admired the broch. "Bella, that looks magnificent. I think Alice was right- this
must be worn on your wedding day." She looked fantisized. Probably imagining it on herself.
"Do you want to wear it?" I teased.
Later on that night, I tossed and turned in the position of being under lockdown in Edward's
arms. A loving lockdown, though. A lockdown that I wished more for...
He seemed to notice, and looked down at me with concern. "Bella, you've been fussing about
on the bed. What's wrong?"
I sighed, sitting up against the headboard. "The wedding!" I cried out unthinkingly.
He looked horrified, gently placing a hand to my jaw. A burning sensation in my cheek filled the spot
where Edward's hand was, like spray paint circling evidence in a crime scene. "You don't want it
anymore?" He asked carefully.
"No, no!" I stage-whispered back, to ease his fears. "Of course I want it. I'm just really...frightened
about it. That sounds really lame, doesn't it? But...I just...you...you seem like you don't want it
yourself." I confessed.
He took all this in, his mouth now pressed into a hard, perfect line. "I want this more than you'll ever
understand, love. I was much looking forward for a wedding with the best girl I could ever imagine
possible, for a long time. To raise a family of my own, considering that I was...still able to back then.
Saying that I don't want this, is saying that I've never loved you, nor will I ever. A complete, complete
impossibility."
He examined my face for a moment, and let out relieved a sigh as I quickly pressed my lips to his.
I kissed him gently, then left myself linger close to him for a moment, my hand running down his
throat, stopping at his collarbone. "I understand." I whispered against his skin.
I soon fell asleep with this new information, that more than reassured me, and I slept soundlessly
after that.
The next morning, I woke up with a startling loud crashing that came from downstairs.
I noticed that Edward wasn't curled up beside me to match my curled body, and sat up.
"Edward?" I whispered, then I got up, to see what was making so much noise downstairs. Thinking
precautiously, I found my baseball bat in my closet, and held it to my body for safety, as I slowly made
my way down the stairs.
"Hello?" My voice was barely more than a whimper.
As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I saw a sight that I wasn't expecting to see, ever, really. Jacob,
who was half-naked as expected, with Quil and Embry as his cohorts beside him, thrashed throughout
the house, tearing through things, as if looking for something.
"What are you doing?" I shreiked, not dropping my bat as I stomped towards them. I know that it
would hurt them worse than my fist. Been there, done that. All three of them spun around, as if not
expecting to see me in my own house.
As I didn't recieve an answer, I only continued, my voice louder, and more furious. "What are you
looking for, Jacob? And why are they here?" I demanded. Jacob glared over at me, then smirked
at the sight of my bat. "Remember what I said, Bella? Something that'll cause a little damage. I don't
think that a bat would bruise me."
I scowled at him, shaking my head. "Get out." I hissed. He walked towards me, and smiled. "Thanks
for the offer, but no. We came here out of motives, not just to interfere with you're precious sleep.
Now, if you'll excuse us, we are looking for something..." He shrugged it off, and pulled through
each drawer in sight.
"No! Stop it, Jacob Black!" I screamed, and they all froze. Wow. I knew that hanging around vampires
would give me some sort of crazy advantage- extra force. "Tell me what your looking for." I growled
acidicly. "Why does it matter?" Jacob snapped.
That's when two cold hands took my bat from me gently, and I looked up to see Alice. Her face looked
repulsed, obviously by the 'scent' that wafted from the werewolf pack. One that was unknown to my
nose. "Leave." She warned. "I know what you're doing and you're not going to find it." Instead of
shivering in their boots and leaving, they crossed their arms over their large chests and grinned.
"Oh?" Embry challenged Alice.
Instinctively, Jasper was beside Alice, defending his lover. "Alice is right. You're never going to find
it, nor will anyone give you a hint. Only my family and myself know where it is. Leave Bella alone,
and go back to the reservation." He growled.
They all walked towards the door, and rolled their eyes. "Bloodsuckers think they're so intelligent. I
mean, really. We could find it easily..." Quil mused, and his voice drifted into the silence. I turned
to Jasper and Alice, confused beyond belief.
"What's going on? And...what are they looking for?"
"The ring, Bella. The one Edward gave you."
That's when I noticed it.
The engagement ring wasn't on my finger anymore. Edward must've taken it last night for his
temporary possession. The one question lingered in my mind, though: What did the wolf pack want
with my ring?
A / N:
I don't mean to sound upset, but I wrote a story recently, and it was up for five days,
and I got zero reviews. I only really get motivated if you review, so if you could do
that, I would be quite happy. :)
Anyway, I'm quite pleased with this chapter, which is a first for me. Usually I'll have
some crazy harsh critic in the back of my mind, and delete it altogether. So I hope you
will like it as much as I do.
Chapter two is coming, as long as I get reviews! Thank youuu. :)